


Time Seemed Too Slow

by tharkflark1



Series: A Ladybug's Sacrifice [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Emilie is only mentioned subtly, F/M, i decided to make it a series, i'm not done with this au yet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-12 02:55:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20557043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tharkflark1/pseuds/tharkflark1
Summary: A Prequel to "What Have You Done?" but in Adrien's POVHe's very hard to write, ya know, especially when he's sad :(





	Time Seemed Too Slow

Time seemed too slow.

Her fingers outreached, his body falling backwards. 

Everything felt muffled, her shout the only sound piercing the silence.

The light much too close, her smile (her kind, beautiful,  _ wonderful _ smile) replaced fear, his eyes widened in realization. 

He screamed.

Then time resumed. 

Pain explodes in his back as he collides with the floor, cutting the sound of his screams. Adrien’s head knocks painfully against the tile, sending whatever thoughts he had spiraling. There’s a dull pain in his ribs, the only thing keeping him from losing consciousness entirely. The sound of flesh and bone hitting the ground a little too hard, however, causes everything to shift back into focus.

He pushes himself up, no matter how much his chest and head refuse. Adrien can now feel the light pricks and bumps on his limbs and face again. He unconsciously reaches for his throbbing cheek before his eyes land on a corner of the room.

If the noise was ringing, the scene was deafening.

There’s someone laying on their side. She’s wearing a dark gray jacket and pink cuffed jeans; they’re dirty and torn but instantly recognizable. The blunette’s hairstyle was once pigtails but they’re strewn and uneven. She’s not moving.  _ She’s not moving _ -

“Marinette!”

Adrien scrambles more than runs toward her, ignoring the movement many small small flying things and of something - some _ one _ \- larger on the opposite side of him. 

His thoughts are running and crashing into one another into an all encompassing mantra of  _ no no no no no NO. _ Adrien’s knees skid painfully against the floor but he ignores it to flip Marinette onto her back. 

They had just found Hawkmoth. They had just found each other. 

“ _ No, no, no, no. I promised I’d protect her! I promised..! _ ”

Grabbing her by the upper arms, he shakes her lightly, calling her name (“ _ Marinette. Marinette  _ please _ wake up _ .”). He doubles his efforts when she doesn’t respond, practically screaming her name (“ _ Milady!  _ Please,  _ LB! Please, wake up! _ ”).

Her chest is abnormally still; he can feel his heart painfully bottom out as he realizes Marinette’s not breathing. He searches fruitlessly for a pulse, something,  _ anything _ -! 

The steady beat of life never reaches his fingertips. Adrien can feel the blood drain from his skin leaving a cold void of numbness. Every hope, every dream, every memory of her tinkling laughter and blinding smiles feels like glass shards in his chest. He’s not even sure he himself is breathing; it’s just cold, cold, cold...

Until it wasn’t. 

The snake of emotions that had been waiting to pounce suddenly strangling his heart, throat, and lungs into a loud heart-wrenching cry that burst forth from his lips. White creatures flutter up and away as he screams into the room all his failures, all his mistakes, all his missed opportunities, all his dead futures, his dead love. 

“ _ Silly kitty _ , “ her fond voice echoes like a broken phonograph through his head; a lost conversation just a few days old about Hawkmoth, futures, and identities, “ _ Afterwards, I promise we’ll hang out outside all of this. I couldn’t do that to one of my best friends! _ ” Clenched fists bleed slightly from the punctures of his nails as his throat is run raw. The last of the air left in his lungs leaves with a cracking sob, and he slumps over her body, slamming his hands into the ground.

Adrien’s head hung low as the larger person in the corner of the room slowly stands, bracing against the wall. Gabriel stumbles slightly, brushing away the butterflies and dust on his clothing. 

“Finally….” Adrien’s head whips around fast enough to give whiplash.

There’s a moment of silence as they both stare at each other — one unfeeling, one slowly building in anger — waiting for the other to take the initiative. Adrien’s first to bring Marinette into lap and curls over her protectively, never taking his eyes off his father. Gabriel sighed apathetically.

“Adrien, it’s over. We won.” He doesn’t move. Gabriel tsks.

“You can finally let go of these  _ friends _ , and we can be a family again.” The designer takes a step toward his son, who retreats away still holding the girl and still watching him. 

“St-stay back…” 

Gabriel blinks at that. His son had never openly disagreed with him before. The Agreste sighs a little louder. “Adrien…” Gabriel takes a step forward–

“ _ I-I said stay back! _ ” Gabriel recoils at his tone. 

The Agreste quickly recovers from Adrien’s outburst, frustration rising. “ Come now, Adrien! Be reasonable! She’s the reason - ”

“Y-You stay back! Don’t- Don’t come any closer or I’ll - “

And that’s when she came in. 

**Author's Note:**

> It's a series now! :D
> 
> Mostly because I couldn't decided if I wanted this to be a chapter or a story by itself. Plus, I finally have a plot line for what could happen afterwards now! This'll be fun >:)


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